Free trade agreement with the United States: Habek rejects Lindner’s TTIP proposal

free trade agreement with usa
Hebeck rejects Lindner’s TTIP proposal

03/21/2022 11:54 am

In 2016, the European-American Free Trade Agreement (TTIP) was put on hold. Finance Minister Lindner’s demand to launch a new effort has been rejected by Economics Minister Hebek. A better and more successful instrument has already been found in the Council on Business and Technology.

Economics Minister Robert Habeck has rejected Finance Minister Christian Lindner’s proposal to renegotiate a free trade agreement with the United States. Habek said on the sidelines of his visit to Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) that this is neither the expectation of Americans nor will it do anything in the short term.

Hebek pointed out that during a recent visit to Washington he also spoke to the US Secretary of Commerce – there is a better, simpler and more successful element, namely the Trade and Technology Council. “We should expand that, that is, negotiations in trade and technical regulation. And that’s what we need. But we’ve been there for a long time.” With renewed vigor, the emerging transatlantic partnership has found its way. “To use, protect, and expand this tool is the order of the day. And that’s exactly what Americans expect,” Hebeck said. “We should no longer engage in an ideological debate that blocks the way of the cooperative understanding we are building.”

Mass protests against TTIP

Lindner called for a new attempt at a free trade agreement with the United States in “Handelsblatt”. Referring to Russia’s attack, he told the newspaper: “Especially now, the crisis shows how important free trade is in the world with partners who share our values. We must learn from the experiences of the TTIP negotiations.”

The European-American Free Trade Agreement TTIP (“Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership”) was halted in 2016. In Europe in particular, there were widespread protests against it, partly because environmental and consumer advocates feared that the higher EU standards could be undermined.